From goals to farming! Haaland dreams of retiring to a small farm with cows and tractors
Erling Haaland may be one of the most feared strikers on the planet, but his plans for life after football are disarmingly simple: a small farm, a tractor and a herd of cows back home in Norway.
Details: As highlighted by Mail Sport, the Manchester City striker has reiterated his long-standing dream of swapping the pitch for the countryside once his playing days are over. 'Being on a farm... driving a tractor, feeding my cows, that's my dream. That's what I want to do when I retire. I think I will buy a small farm when I finish football,' Haaland famously explained, adding that farm life is how he switches off from the relentless pressure of the modern game.
The dream is rooted in his upbringing in Bryne, a small farming town in south-west Norway where agriculture is a way of life. Haaland has never hidden his love of the land — he is regularly photographed back home behind the wheel of a tractor, and has spoken about how time on the farm helps him relax mentally when football becomes overwhelming.
There is a certain irony to the timing of the story surfacing again. Just days ago, Haaland was ending his open-play goal drought at Anfield in City's 3-0 win over Liverpool — his eighth goal in eight games against the Reds — yet in the same breath he continues to talk about a future measured in hay bales rather than goal tallies.
At 26, retirement is a long way off, and the Norwegian shows no sign of slowing down: City are top of the Premier League with six wins from six, and Haaland remains central to everything Enzo Maresca's side are building. But whenever the day comes to hang up his boots, the Premier League's most lethal finisher already knows exactly where he will be — somewhere quiet, surrounded by fields.
It's worth noting that Haaland's farm dream has become one of football's most beloved recurring stories, resurfacing every few months as new audiences discover that one of the game's biggest superstars measures happiness in cows, not contracts.
Reminder: Humiliation at Anfield! Haaland ends his curse as Cherki tears Liverpool's defense apart. VIDEO.
Miguel Solomons
Dailysports's expert
